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Campus Beat

Jane Doe No More

"The work I do is a last-ditch effort," says forensic artist Gloria Nusse, whose portfolio spans museum reconstructions of Miwok Indians to those of suicide and murder victims for law enforcement. "I get called in when a case is completely cold." — Photo by Dave Dellaria

In 2003 the remains of a young woman were discovered behind a Castro Valley
restaurant. After more than three years, the victim's identity had yet to emerge.
"It was heart-wrenching," recalls lead detective Sgt. Scott
Dudek of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. With nowhere else to turn,
he ordered the body exhumed and called forensic artist Gloria Nusse.
The SF State anthropology graduate student and anatomy instructor made
a mold of the young woman's skull at her Clay and Bones studio in Mill
Valley.

Nusse's intricate process starts with identifying the proper tissue depth
at a number of landmarks across the facial area. Various measurements are made
to determine such factors as nose thickness and length and eye placement. "It's
based on anatomical studies that go back to the 1800s," Nusse says, explaining
that race, gender and age determine tissue depth.

Her earliest lessons in facial reconstruction came from Professor Emeritus
Roger Heglar. Nusse visited his lab in the late 1980s when she was working
as a scientific artist and sculptor at the California Academy of Sciences.
"The technique does work," she says.

Last year Sgt. Dudek took Nusse's sculpture to Yahualica, Mexico, the hometown
of a person of interest who was seen with the victim in California. The sculpture
was placed prominently in the town's square. Flyers with photos of the sculpture
were also handed out. Community members identified the young woman as Yesenia
Nungaray.

The 16-year-old had sought out a new life in the U.S. but was killed just
three weeks after her arrival. "There's no way people would have made
the connection without Gloria,"
Dudek says. "This case wouldn't have come to a conclusion without her.
She's right up there with the best of the best."